Children at a camp for Ukrainian refugees in Russia

St. PETERSBURG, June 18. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has drawn the attention of the International Red Cross (ICRC) and UNICEF to the situation in respect to refugees from the southeast of Ukraine.

“The Red Cross ought to have long ago raised its flag there, put up its tents and begin evacuating all those who want to leave,” the ombudsman told journalists in St.Petersburg.

Astakhov said he had contacted the ICRC Kiev office, and ICRC and UNICEF headquarters. “In response to my appeal UNICEF has published a report in which it called on the UN to pay attention to the problem, but that was all that was done,” the ombudsman said.

“Over the past 24 hours, more than 14,000 refugees have arrived in the Rostov region, which was a record high number since refugee exodus from Ukraine began. Approximately one-third of the refugees are children,” Astakhov said.

“We have already been accommodating the refugees in the Perm region. There are huge lists numbering dozens of thousands of families, including in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, who are prepared to shelter the refugees in their homes,” Astakhov said.